Chickpea Cutlets

I saw this recipe on another blog – The Post Punk Kitchen and figured I’d give them a try. They’re listed under the “Thanksgiving” recipes, so I thought I’d try them in a ‘chicken parmesan’ style with spaghetti and marinara sauce.

These were really quite easy to make, and pretty economical. The only ‘special’ ingredient was the vital wheat gluten, which is pretty easily available, but not cheap – so I bet there is probably something that can replace this to make it a pantry recipe.

In a mixing bowl, mash the chickpeas together with the oil until no whole chickpeas are left. Use an avocado masher or a strong fork. Alternately, you can pulse the chickpeas in a food processor. Be careful not to purée them, just get them mashed up. You can also sneak the garlic cloves in here instead of grating them, just pulse them up before adding the chickpeas. If using a food processor, transfer to a mixing bowl when done.

Add the remaining ingredients and knead together for about 3 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed.

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over low-medium heat. Cast iron works best. If you have two pans and want to cook all the cutlets at once then go for it, otherwise you’ll be making them in two batches (it actually took me 3).

Divide the cutlet dough into 2 equal pieces. Then divide each of those pieces into 4 separate pieces (so you’ll have 8 all together). To form cutlets, knead each piece in your hand for a few moments and then flatten and stretch each one into a roughly 6 by 4 inch rectangular cutlet shape. The easiest way to do this is to form a rectangle shape in your hands and then place the cutlets on a clean surface to flatten and stretch them.

Add a moderately thin layer of olive oil to the bottom of the pan. Place the cutlets in the pan and cook on each side for 6 to 7 minutes. Add more oil, if needed, when you flip the cutlets. They’re ready when lightly browned and firm to the touch.

**My notes on this recipe – I used a 15 oz can of garbanzo beans. My breadcrumbs were NOT vegan 😦 BOO! Milk, buttermilk, and eggs were 3 of the last 4 ingredients. But, they were the last few ingredients, so I don’t feel as bad about that! I also found that I didn’t have any dried thyme, so I used oregano instead. I used a little garlic and no lemon zest.

I think I may have overcooked them a bit, and possibly made them just a little too thin. I thought they were good overall though. I think next time, I’d do a few less minutes in the pan and transfer them to the oven to finish cooking.

They had good texture – a lot like a breaded chicken cutlet actually. I served it with spaghetti and vegan marinara sauce. The kids and the husband put parmesan cheese on theirs, I sprinkled a little nutritional yeast on mine. The boy ate half of his, again – I think they were a little too well done for his liking. The husband said it was OK. And, the girl maybe ate one piece and then was ‘saved’ from having to eat her dinner by the tornado sirens that went off and we headed to the basement.

After this run, I’ll rate these a B – but I’ll definitely try them again!

That looks awesome. I will be making these soon!
I’m not sure if there is a substitute for vital wheat gluten because that is part of what gives the final product its “meaty” texture. But I use it to make seitan (recipe found on my blog and from the PPK) and I figure, tho expensive, it’s still a lot cheaper than buying its processed counterpart (fake meat).
Thanks for sharing this recipe!